brownbitchbisexual:

okay … some of you have a completely incorrect conceptualization of how lgbt identities, terminologies, and subcultures developed. first of all, the critical thing to note is that many of the terms you people fight over emerged in working-class and black/brown lgbt communities. i feel like this aspect is missing from discourse on here, which is upsetting because it shows how defanged lgbt communities are today from the radicalism of before. second of all, i think some of you act like these groups were all inherently separate and lived separate lives with no contact or interaction whatsoever until stonewall happened and then the first pride took place. lol. you guys do realize that they didn’t hold a meeting to decide which terms belong to which group and which slurs a group can or can’t reclaim, right? i’m not saying that what they did/thought/said would necessarily apply or even be appropriate today, but you people really have to stop acting like historically, these terms/identities/etc came about separately. yeah, there have always been tensions, but i can tell you that one thing older lgbt people weren’t doing is they weren’t sitting around making conscious decisions about which sub-group has the real “claim” to something. they had much more immediate priorities. i come on here and i see people conflating “butch queen” (a term from ball culture) with “butch lesbian”, or acting like only gay men can use the terms top/bottom, or outrightly ignoring the role trans women (twoc) have played in drag, or literally acting like bisexuals were invented in the 90′s. it really concerns me. please read a few books on lgbt history. watch interviews and documentaries. maybe log off tumblr, go outside, and talk to a real flesh & blood lgbt person besides yourself.